In the 1800s, Amandus Müller, a descendant of Ludwig Müller-Uri, created thirteen kits of pathological eye models to be used as teaching devices. In 1963, the kit was donated to the UCSF Ophthalmology Department and stored until 2014, when it was rediscovered in the Special Collections of the Kalmanovitz Library Knowledge and Learning Center.

Coinciding with UCSF's 150th Anniversary celebration, this kit became the center of a current exhibit and publication "History, Science, & Art of Ocular Prosthetics."

Before I dive into the future of ocularistry, it might be interesting to look at how the artificial eyes have evolved in the past. Throughout the history of prosthetic eyes, materials have changed based on their availability and the abilities of civilizations to work with them. The oldest artificial eye, dated to the Middle Stone Age about 7,000 years ago, was composed of an earthy clay material called ochre...

In the early 1800s, German glassblower Ludwig Müller-Uri created a glass eye for his son who had lost an eye. (Interesting fact: My mentor's former mentor, third-generation ocularist Phillip A. Danz, is a distant relative of Müller-Uri.)...

During WWII, shortage of German glass occurred in the U.S. In 1943, U.S. Army dental technicians created the first impression-fitted acrylic eyes using dental materials that were new at the time. Then, in 1969, Lee Allen and Howard E. Webster described in the American Journal of Ophthalmology the Modified Impression Method based on techniques they had used since the mid-1950s.

Today, Modified Impression Method remains an industry standard. How can ocularists continue to improve in the future? Any thoughts?